Who is Good Owl Games?
Antoinette Mason is an accidental board game reviewer who loves dry euro games and long walks on the beach. She lives in Cork, Ireland working on Good Owl Games as a way to tell people about fantastic board games and to work on her own mental health. She's very proud of her unbroken win streak playing Time of Legends: Joan of Arc and doesn't play favourites among her games, they're all special!
I do like the game, but I can’t say you’re wrong – that whole “spend the game collecting bonuses, then everything hinges on one roll of the dice” is one that really doesn’t sit well with me (London Dread is another game that uses this mechanic, but there you don’t even get another try if your one die roll wasn’t good enough). Another problem you didn’t mention is the random equipment setup: finding the things you need to help with your plot can go really easily, or can take several eras, depending on whether the useful item was in the Chancellery or in Stockholm.
Separately, there’s an argument to be made that most of the conspirators depicted weren’t the heroes that the game makes them out to be: historically many of them were quite happy to go along with the Nazi system, until it started losing. (And nobody will ever know what Canaris was really thinking.)
But in spite of all that I’m glad I have this on my shelves. If I had a small collection and played it every few weeks I think I’d get bored with it quickly. As it is I play it once or twice a year with lots of other games in between, and still enjoy it.
Have you tried duBarry’s Revolution? Steve Jackson Games did the English-language edition, and it’s now gone out of print, but people who’ve played it tend to like it. It’s basically iterated blind bidding.
I like hearing I’m right 😀 Like yourself, this idea of everything coming down to a single interaction cheapens the game experience for me. That’s a good point about the items too.
Very interesting hearing about the conspirators, I didn’t know that. Wouldn’t it have made for a more interesting game if players had changed sides? But it’s such a delicate idea and can see why that could never be the case.
You see, not all games are about mechanics, they can be about experiences too. And I think Black Orchestra is amazing at just that. It’s more about the players than about that dice roll, assuming you can work past that! I love hearing how much people enjoy the game because I can understand why, even if it wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m delighted you’re enjoying it!
I’ve not played Revolution but I think I’ve heard of it (red box cover?) but I do like bidding games. It’s a shame you usually need more players to have those type of game shine. I’ll keep my eyes peeled. Thanks for taking the time to reply and I hope you’re keeping well!